How many 'listen outside of the box' design?

I'm a box guy but love the looks and idea of the boxless designs...truth be told, I have very limited exposure to boxless designs and have only heard them a handful of times. While I love the looks of them, I just could never get into the fact that they have such a small sweet spot, or where they just set up wrong? I've only listened to Maggies twice, ML's once and Apogee Centaur Minors once and that was a long, long time ago...think I'm way overdue to hear them again.

If you think Magnepans have a small sweet spot,then something was wrong with the set up you listened to.

I'm not saying successful box designs haven't been built, what I'm suggesting is box designs seem a more complicated way to achieve true room integration.

I'm not sure the absolute goal is to "integrate" the speaker with the room, as much as to "recreate" the original venue's sonics in spite of the room.

Using a driver release system that must release backwave sonics that cannot do anything else but cause a reflected room distortion (sound not in the original recording) is just as problematic as the backwave being released into a cabinet.

All speakers have their trade offs and advantages. In general it will be your "preferences" as to how those trade offs are dealt with that will attract you to a design.

For years I listened to box speakers, but then tried a pair of Quad 63's for awhile.

I loved the Quads on small-scale works, chiefly classical and jazz. Their coherence was breathtaking. But they fell flat on large-scale stuff, orchestral and operatic. And they were a disaster on rock. I tried a pair of good powered subs with them, but never got the combination to integrate well.

I eventually went back to boxes and never regretted it. I think it is easier to get good full-range response and achieve good room integration with a well-designed box speaker than with a planar design. Maybe that's why the majority of high-end speaker designers go for boxes.

I am very happy with my current speakers and have no plans to change them. But I would love to hear some modern Magnepans, just to see what the fuss is all about. But that's not likely, as I would have to travel several hundred miles to do so.

Anyway, whatever speaker turns you on, go for it!

i have had a pair of maggies (mg12)in my main listening room for quite a few years now and love them to this day. i love the detail you can get even at low volumes. i do have small monitors in my smaller listening rooms (sonus faber and triangle)but that is just because i love to have music going wherever i am in my home. but if i am just going to listen to music it has got to be the maggies.